Painless labour: attitude and awareness amongst pregnant women

Abstract

Background: Labour pain has been described as most severe pain experienced by a female. Labour analgesia is widely practiced in developed countries. Many labour analgesic methods have been introduced to make delivery a pleasurable moment in a women’s life.Methods: This prospective study was performed at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, India after getting permission from institute ethical committee. 100 pregnant females attending the antenatal clinic were interviewed in their mother language. Information was collected on a questionnaire after an informed consent. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, desire and acceptability of pregnant women regarding painless labour.Results: The mean age of the women in the study was 24.98years.56% of women in the study were primigravida whereas 44% were multigravida.66% women belonged to urban area while 34% were from rural area. 10% were illiterate, 35% were educated upto secondary education and 55% were having higher education. Only 24% of the women were having knowledge about painless labour however 87% female were having positive attitude towards epidural analgesia. The correlation between the educational status and knowledge about painless labour was not statistically significant (p0.949). The knowledge and attitude of women regarding painless labour was statistically significant with p value of 0.00001.Conclusions: There is lack of knowledge about labour analgesia among women. Obstetrician and anaesthetist should educate women regarding painless labour. Labour analgesia is standard of care in obstetrics and should be provided to all parturient.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Pregnant Women Regarding Painless Labor

“…Regarding the relationship between the total scores of knowledge and the total scores of attitudes regarding painless labor among the studied pregnant women, a significant relationship was found between the total score of knowledge and the total score of attitudes regarding painless labor among the studied pregnant women. This result is consistent with Sinha A et al, (2019) (37) and Delwatta S et al, (2019) (26) findings. Also, Zaihi Z et al, (2020) (56) found that there was a relationship between knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women regarding epidural anesthesia.…”

“…Concerning the studied pregnant women's educational level, more than half of them had university education. This finding matches with Paul D et al, (2022) (35) , Alahmari S et al, (2020) (36) and Sinha A et al, (2019) (37) findings. While, this finding is dissimilar to Abd El-Salam A et al, (2022) (38) and Abo El-nassr A et al, (2022) (32) who showed that less than two-thirds of the women in their study had secondary education.…”

“…This result is supported by Khan I et al, (2022) (31) who indicated that the majority of the women in their study had positive attitudes towards labor analgesia. Similar finding had been reported by Sinha A et al, (2019) (37) who found that most of their study subjects had positive attitudes towards painless labor. Moreover, Ponnusamy R et al, (2018) (52) who evaluated knowledge and attitudes about labor analgesia among obstetricians, anesthesiologist and pregnant women, indicated that more than three-quarters of the women had positive attitudes and wished for painless labor.…”

“…(47,57) As regard to the correlation between the total scores of knowledge and the total scores of attitudes regarding painless labor among the studied pregnant women, there was a strong positive correlation between women's total scores of knowledge and total scores of attitudes regarding painless labor. This finding in accordance with Abo El-nassr A et al, (2022) (32) , Sinha A et al, (2019) (37]) and Thakur M et al, (2017). (54) On contrast, Mattamundayil A et al, (2017) (53) revealed that there was no correlation between knowledge and attitudes of labor pain relieve techniques among their studied women.…”

“…Also, Workie M et al, (2021) (40) in their assessment of awareness, attitudes, and desire for labor analgesia among pregnant women in Ethiopia, found that the majority of their study subjects were unaware of labor analgesia. Moreover, Sinha A et al, (2019) (37) in a study to assess knowledge and attitudes of painless labor amongst pregnant women, found that more than three-quarters of women in their study had no knowledge about painless labor. This finding also agreed with Alshahrani M (2019) (48) who revealed that most of his study subjects were unaware of labor pain relieve.…”